The views and photographs of Adrian Colston

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Four-spotted footman

This is a Nationally Scarce A species of moth which means it lives in less than 100 ten kilometre squares in the UK. I have trapped the male of the species several times before but have never seen a female – I have two in the trap the other night.

This is a Four-spotted Footman – it is a male, the females have the spots. It is a rare moth, designated as a Nationally Notable A, it is reasonably well distributed in the south west and I record it in my garden most years. Its larvae feed on lichens.

This pretty moth is Black Arches – a local species residing in the south of the UK. Its caterpillars feed on oaks.

There are a group of moths known as the Footman moths and last night I had four different species in my trap. All footman species have caterpillars which feed on lichens.

This is a Four-spotted Footman – this is the male (the female has two spots on each forewing). It is a large moth being around twice the size of other footman species – as a result it is unmistakable. Nationally this is a rare moth but there are strong colonies in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It has the designation of National Scarce A which means it occurs as a breeding species in between 16-30 10 km squares. However it is also a known immigrant species so numbers can be bolstered by animals from the continent. Impossible to say whether this is a breeding species in my garden or an immigrant.

This is a Scarce Footman – a much more compact species which has the habit (which is the ID clincher) of appearing very thin as it rolls its wings around its abdomen. It is a local species but is more common than its name suggests.

This is the Common Footman – the commonest footman in the UK. Its wings are light grey and are fringed by yellow lines on the forewing.

And this is the Rosy Footman – a very distinctive and attractive species.